Guangzhou
is the capital of
Guangdong Province, has
an area of 7434.4 square
kilometres. The city is
between latitude 220 and
249 north and longitude
1123 and 1445 east.
Located in a temperature
zone of subtropical
climate, the annual
temperature is about
21.7 with the highest of
38.7 and lowest of 0 .
The annual precipitation
is 1982.7 millimetres,
with main rainfall
concentrated in spring
and autumn.

Guangzhou was probably
founded in 214 B.C. as
an encampment by the
armies of the first
Emperor of Qin Dynasty,
Qin Shihuang. By the
Tang Dynasty (618-907),
the city was already an
international port. The
modernization of
Guangzhou began in the
early 1920s; most of the
main streets defining
the city today were
built then. A feverish
sense of urgency in
construction -- it took
only 18 months to build
40 kilometres (25 mi.)
of road -- is evident
even today. During that
modernization in the
1920s, the remainder of
the old city wall was
pulled down. Today,
throughout the city,
high-risen hotels,
bridges, and new
highways now seemingly
materialize overnight.

The personality of
Guangzhou differs
significantly from that
of northern China. While
one can stand in the
middle of Tian’anmen
Square in Beijing and
feel the backbone of
Chinese authority, one
can easily stand on any
street in Guangzhou and
feel the lack of order
inherent in the traffic
and commotion. The
language of Guangzhou is
incomprehensible to
northern Chinese, who
typically speak
Mandarin. A word in
Cantonese has nine
tones, instead of the
four tones in the
Mandarin dialect.

The area around
Guangzhou was
overcrowded even 200
years ago, and many
peasants from the region
emigrated to Southeast
Asia, North America and
Europe. As a result,
Cantonese is the most
common dialect amongst
overseas Chinese.
Likewise, Cantonese
cuisine is the most
widely-known of all
Chinese idioms: in
Beijing one talks, in
Shanghai one shops, and
in Guangzhou one eats.
Without a doubt,
Guangzhou is best known
for its eclectic food --
from insect omelettes to
dim sum. Famous for its
snack-like form
(dumplings, pastries and
noodle dishes chosen
from carts wheeled
around the restaurant),
dim sum is ubiquitous in
Guangzhou.